We give you the scuttlebutt on academic journals—aiding you in selecting the right journal for publication—in reviews that are sometimes snarky, sometimes lengthy, always helpful. Written by Princeton University graduate students and Wendy Laura Belcher.

Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief

For those interested in publishing articles that are interested in writing about the intersection of images, objects, spaces, practice with belief. An innovative, relatively new journal at the intersection of the new materiality and faith. (KW)

Material Religion is an international, peer-reviewed journal which seeks “to explore how religion happens in material culture – images, devotional and liturgical objects, architecture and sacred space, works of arts and mass-produced artifacts.” This journal also includes articles that explore the embodied forms of religious practice such as pilgrimage and ritual practice and seeks to serve as a bridge between the worlds of academic scholarship and museum practices. Over its first ten years, the journal has published articles from a wide variety of disciplines (20 fields) with the largest representations in anthropology, religious studies, museum studies, art history and history. It also publishes articles that cover a good range of geographical areas and religious/belief traditions. As the journal moves forward, the editors would like to receive more submissions from Asian, African and South American authors. Similarly, they would like to see medieval and ancient periods better represented, submissions on the materialities of First Nation’s religions, Oceanic religions as well as larger representations of Asian religions from all historical periods. Material Religion also envisions future volumes that include more emphasis on museum studies essays, the sensorium, and the relationship between material culture and the virtual or digital world.

Articles per year: Articles: 16; In Conversation/Outlook: 12-16. Also, publishes book reviews and sections called “Outlook” and “In Conversation” which are for other types of reviews, reports, interviews or notes.

Citation style: The Taylor & Francis Author Services webpage has extensive instructions ranging from how to write a journal article to guidance on anonymizing your article for peer review, as well as instructions for fonts, title, keywords, headings, tables and figures. Also, includes templates for articles.